Saw Palmetto plantCAN SAW PALMETTO STOP HAIR LOSS? Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens or Sabal serrulata) is a dwarf palm plant native to North America. It primarily grows along the Atlantic coast in Georgia and Florida. The active ingredients are believed to be found in the plant’s brown-black berries.
Saw palmetto is also popular as a herbal remedy for a type of hair loss and baldness called androgenic alopecia, male pattern baldness. This type of hair loss is typically the greatest at the top of the head (scalp area) or around the temples (receding hair line).
Although we still don’t know exactly how it works, it’s believed that it may block an enzyme (5-alpha-reductase) from allowing the hormone testosterone from being converted to another hormone, dihydrotestosterone. Dihydrotestosterone is considered a key contributing factor to the onset and progression of androgenic alopecia and male pattern baldness.
Much of saw palmetto’s popularity as a remedy for hair loss and baldness, however, is based on how it’s believed to work rather than on evidence that it actually does. One of the only published trials on saw palmetto for baldness is a small study involving 10 men with mild to moderate male pattern baldness. Although very promising, the study was too small to provide meaningful evidence.
There have been rare case reports describing minor side-effects but it’s not clear or proven that these side effects were directly caused by saw palmetto. Although it hasn’t been well-demonstrated in humans, saw palmetto may influence levels of sex hormones such as estrogen and testosterone.Saw Palmetto should be used with carefully when taken by pregnant women, like most other herbal supplements. The overall safety of saw palmetto for pregnant or nursing women, children, or people with kidney or liver disease hasn’t been established.
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Inofrmatin taken from About.com Sources Bressler R. Herb-drug interactions. Interactions between saw palmetto and prescription medications. Geriatrics. (2005) 60.11: 32- 34. Prager N, Bickett K, French N, Marcovici G. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to determine the effectiveness of botanically derived inhibitors of 5-alpha-reductase in the treatment of androgenetic alopecia. J Altern Complement Med. (2002) 8.2: 143-152. Ulbricht C, Basch E, Bent S, Boon H, Corrado M, Foppa I, Hashmi S, Hammerness P, Kingsbury E, Smith M, Szapary P, Vora M, Weissner W. Evidence-based systematic review of saw palmetto by the Natural Standard Research Collaboration. J Soc Integr Oncol. (2006) 4.4: 170-186.
